The Letter
by Zanza8
Summary: Set after A Risky Racket. When Fuu is unsure what to do with the letter she wrote to Shinsuke's mother, Mugen takes matters into his own hands.
1. Chapter 1

Mugen dropped an armload of wood next to the fire and slumped to the ground, glaring at Fuu. "Are you crying _again_?"

She glared back, wiping her eyes. "It's none of your business."

Jin poked the fire gloomily, hoping the storm wouldn't last too long, but Mugen was just getting warmed up. The Ryukyuan leaned over to look at what Fuu was holding and rolled his eyes. "Every time you take out that paper, we have to listen to you sniveling for hours over some guy that was going to cut your throat."

"He was not!" Fuu crumpled the paper in her hands, fresh tears falling on it. "And I'm not crying over him, if you must know."

"Fuu." Jin's voice was very soft, but Mugen and Fuu both turned to look at him. "It's been three days. If you're not still upset about Shinsuke, what _is_ wrong?"

The girl's lips trembled. "Nothing. I just….Shinsuke and me had so much in common. We both loved our mothers, and we couldn't do anything for them. He wasn't a bad guy. He just wanted money to buy medicine for his sick mother. I can understand that-being willing to do anything to help somebody you love. And I saw him die, and I went to see his mother, but I didn't know what to say to her." She smoothed the paper out. "I wrote her this letter, but it probably wouldn't do her any good to read it. I just don't know if I should send it or not."

"No problem." Mugen grabbed the letter and stood up, smirking. "I'll take it to her."

"You give that back!" Fuu reached for the paper but the Ryukyuan fended her off easily and headed into the darkness, his last words heavy with scorn.

"When I get back, you better be over crying all the time or I might just keep going!"

Fuu looked helplessly at Jin. "Are you just going to sit there? Go after him!"

"Maybe he's right," said the samurai flatly. "If the letter contains something Shinsuke's mother should know, it is better to deliver it."

"He's not taking it to be nice to that poor woman," said Fuu miserably. "He just wants to get away for a while-he probably won't even go back to the town." She sighed. "Can you imagine Mugen actually doing something nice?"

"Frankly, no." Jin stared thoughtfully at the flames. "But perhaps he will be in a better mood when he returns."

"You really think he'll be back?" asked Fuu wistfully.

"Oh, yes." The samurai smiled slightly. "I haven't killed him yet."


	2. Chapter 2

Mugen stalked down the road, fuming. Why did he stay with those two? What was the point of trying to protect Fuu when all she did was get in trouble? Everywhere they went he had to rescue her from somebody who kidnapped her for her body, as if she had something worth taking, and no matter how many times it happened she still hadn't learned to be careful. He thought of how she looked in that window with a knife to her throat, and became aware his hands were hurting. He had clenched them so tightly his nails had drawn blood from his palms and he turned off the road and settled himself under a tree, taking deep breaths and trying to relax. She was whining nonstop about having something in common with that little creep, but the guy should be happy he died before Mugen had a chance to get him alone. The Ryukyuan stretched out on the ground and folded his hands under his head, then sat up, staring in the dim light at the forgotten paper he still held.

Now why had he taken this letter? There was no way he was going to deliver it-he just wanted to get it away from Fuu, but now that he was calmer he realized it had been a stupid thing to do. She would just start another one, probably crying even more because she couldn't remember what she already wrote down. Mugen ground his teeth and balled up the paper, pulling back his arm to throw it as far as he could, then swore violently and thrust it deep in a pocket inside his jacket, telling himself that it would be better to wait until daylight and then destroy it. Why he didn't want to take a chance of anyone finding it and reading Fuu's private thoughts was not a subject that he cared to think about, and after building a small fire to warm himself by he curled up and went to sleep, putting the thought of tossing the paper into the flames out of his mind as soon as it occurred to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Mugen woke the next morning in a worse mood than he had gone to sleep in. His fire had burned out, he was hungry, and although he told himself he was glad to be away from Fuu and Jin, he felt a stab of loneliness. He got to his feet and stretched, then looked back the way he had come. He could just go back now-he'd have to give the letter back to Fuu, or listen to her whining. He'd have to listen to her whining anyway, but anything would be better than this silence….

The Ryukyuan shook himself. Now that he had cut himself loose, he might as well keep on going back to the town. He wouldn't have any trouble finding his companions again, and he would enjoy some time to himself without that annoying girl hanging around, spoiling all his fun. He pulled out the letter and flattened it, staring at the incomprehensible words he had never learned to read, then shrugged and folded it carefully before stowing it away in his pocket.

He made good time, reaching the town early in the afternoon. The red light district beckoned, but there was no point in going when he was flat broke. Still, there must be somebody walking around with more money than he knew what to do with. Mugen ducked down a narrow alley to wait for a careless citizen to walk by and pulled out the letter again. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take it to that guy's mother-it would kill some time and he'd have better luck getting some money after it was dark anyway. He tucked the letter back in his pocket and set out for the little house on the outskirts of town.


	4. Chapter 4

Mugen frowned as he approached the house, wrestling with second thoughts all the way up to the door, then stood for a while trying to think of what to say. Finally he pushed the door open. "Yo, lady. You in there?"

There was no answer and he opened the door all the way, sticking his head in the room and looking around. His eyes widened at the sight of the woman lying in the middle of the floor, staring sightlessly at the ceiling. He had seen death too often to be mistaken about it, but he knelt beside the body to check for signs of life, then sat back on the floor. Great. He came all this way and now the stupid woman was dead.

There was a gasp from the doorway and the Ryukyuan leaped to his feet, seizing a man who was backing away and shaking him violently. "What happened here?"

"I didn't know anyone was here!" The man tried to pull away and Mugen tightened his grip, then dragged him into the house.

"I asked you what happened here." Mugen slammed his captive to the floor, gesturing to the few poor belongings thrown around, the worn futon slashed down the middle, the holes dug in the floor. "You do this?"

The man quailed before the chilling violence in the Ryukyuan's eyes. "It wasn't me! I just wanted to see if anything was left."

"Talk sense," snarled Mugen.

"Yumi….she'd been sick for a while….that's why Shinsuke turned to crime…."

Mugen kicked the man. "I know that. Get to why she's dead and her place is trashed."

"Shinsuke was killed a few days ago….one of Yumi's neighbors went to check on her, and she was dead." The man flinched as Mugen raised his hand, then rushed on. "I don't know how she died! I swear….maybe she died of her sickness, or maybe she killed herself….Shinsuke was all she had left…."

"And this mess?"

"Well….some of the townspeople….they came to see if….if she had anything valuable. Maybe something she was saving for Shinsuke, you know? They didn't find anything, but I thought…."

"Yeah, I get it. You didn't do anything to her. You just wanted to see if they missed anything." Mugen leaned over and the man cringed, covering his head with his hands, but all the Ryukyuan did was pull him to his feet. "Come on."

He hauled the man outside to the little garden shed in back of the house and selected a worn shovel, then looked around the yard. A plum tree was in full bloom and he headed for it, slamming the shovel into the man's chest. "Dig."

"Dig?" The man's face drained of color.

Mugen backhanded him. "You heard me. Dig! I want a nice deep hole."

The man whimpered, then started digging as the Ryukyuan balled up his fist. Mugen stood for a few minutes, then sat under the tree, pulling out his sword.

The sun was just setting when Mugen got to his feet. "All right, that looks good. Come on." His captive climbed out of the hole and dropped the shovel, then followed meekly into the house. A threadbare blanket was crumpled in a corner and Mugen wrapped it around the old woman's body, then lifted her in his arms. The man backed away as the Ryukyuan went through the door, then climbed through the window and took off in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Mugen briefly considered going after him, then shrugged and laid the body in the hole, taking out the letter. "Well, lady, looks like you won't get to read this after all, but I guess it don't matter now." He dropped the letter in the hole and started shoveling dirt in, his eyes dark.

Mugen filled in the hole, stamping down the dirt, then slung the shovel away. He looked speculatively at the house, then walked inside, piled everything he could find in the middle of the floor, and set it on fire. He waited until the house itself was in flames before going out to sit under the tree next to the grave, watching until everything had burned to the ground.


	5. Chapter 5

Jin walked steadily down the road, trying to ignore the sound of Fuu's sniffles. He had tried to engage her in conversation once or twice, but all she did was cry and complain about Mugen. Better to wait and let her work her feelings out by herself, but the samurai was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Unlikely though it would have seemed a couple of days ago, he found himself hoping the Ryukyuan would return soon.

"Yo."

Jin jumped as the rough voice sounded in his ear. He had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't heard Mugen approaching and he made a mental note never to become so abstracted again.

"Mugen!" Fuu hadn't noticed his arrival either and now she scowled fiercely. "Where have you been?"

"Where do you think?" The Ryukyuan fell into step with his companions. "I delivered that letter to the old broad."

The girl's eyes widened. "You actually took my letter to Shinsuke's mom?"

"I said I would, didn't I?" Mugen snarled.

"Did she read it?" asked Fuu uncertainly.

"Yeah, she read it. She said it made her feel a little better. And you don't got to worry about her, because her neighbors are all taking care of her."

Fuu smiled brightly and before Mugen realized what she was going to do, she gave him a quick hug. "Thank you, thank you!" He brought up his hands to push her away, but she was already hurrying ahead. "Come on, you guys! Let's get to the next town-I'm starving!"

Jin had been watching Mugen closely and now he murmured, "You are the worst liar I have ever known."

The Ryukyuan avoided his companion's eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If those neighbors had been the kind of people who would help someone in trouble, Shinsuke would never have had to turn to crime to begin with. What really happened back there?"

Mugen looked uneasily at Fuu, then dropped back and lowered his voice. "Let's just say it wasn't pretty." He looked daggers at Jin. "And don't say anything to her about it. I don't need to listen to any more of her whining."

"I won't." Jin smiled slightly. "Thanks to your lie, at least she's happy."

"Whatever." The Ryukyuan shrugged and linked his hands behind his head. At that moment Fuu turned and as her shining brown eyes met his, for that one moment Mugen was happy too.


End file.
